The Official Milepoint Kiva Lounge Thread

I'm sure he asked for your mum or dad because you look so young.

We have "no solicitors" signs that seem to work well... as well as a gate to our courtyard that is rarely unlocked

I used to live near a house with a sign that said "Beware of Owner. Never mind the dog."

Actually, you could have said truthfully that your Mum and Dad weren't home.

That's what my parents said. My parents also told me he probably meant it as a compliment, not the insult I took it as.

Yep, they weren't home because they were visiting me.

Exactly.

Of course, if they were home, you could have said, "Yes they're home, but they don't live here and I can't give you their address."

He might have meant it as a compliment, but if so it would have been demeaning.

He's lucky he didn't ask for the man of the house. That would have been like a red flag to a bull. Plus Mr was busy fixing the pool shed at the time.

I was wearing my medals on Remembrance Day a couple of years ago. Old lady - where did your Dad serve? Me - I served in East Timor and the Solomon Islands. I then walked away not interested in a conversation.

Same day another old lady - Whose medals are you wearing? Me - My own. I also walked away from that one.

I don't have much tolerence for idiots.

and yet... you choose to keep company with us

There's a reason I don't venture out of the Kiva part of MP much....

I just ran across a few loans for weddings and paying tuition. And one ($1300) for a passport for the daughter to move to Thailand and make more money. Given that my own wedding cost about $150 (the fee for the civil wedding at city hall and dinner with our witness), I am not about to fund anyone else's expensive wedding. I know... different cultures... but I just set different priorities for my money.

Did I make this post? My wedding cost almsot exactly the same price, done the same way, and it has lasted happily for 35 years despite the shock of various relatives who thought/think weddings should cost the GNP of a small country. I will not lend for something I would not spend money on myself. The education loans are a harder choice, but few people make enough money after graduation to pay off onerous debts unless there is near zero interest and modest debt anyway. I worry about those that are five years before first payment even more than I worry about wedding loans.

Some brides fuss over seat covers at the reception that cost more than that!!!!

I want Vegas but Mr doesn't want that so it'll be the Brisbane registry office, Fiji or Hawaii for us. A bit more than yours cost but will be small and followed by a nice dinner.

Here's a third for a "quickie" wedding. Peach and I went to Lake Tahoe... probably $200 or less for the entire weekend (including hotel.) Some friends through a reception for us a couple of weeks later, and that was the party. The ceremony was reserved for us, the minister, and a housefly determined to ruin the proceedings.

I don't know how much you know about the Aussie university system but I deferred my course costs so that I pay them when I earn over a certain amount. The debt is tied to inflation so it is rising. If I still have the debt when I die it is calculated for that financial year then the remainder is written off.

My parents paid for my text books and compulsory university amenity fees. In good traffic I could drive to Uni in 7 minutes.

Looking at one... $1425 for fees for a semester in Jordan. The student is studying Arabic Literature and Language. It makes me wonder why tuition is that high in a country where the annual avg income is $3,740 and what kind of job that student will get upon graduation to earn a living and pay back the loans. Call me biased, but if he was going for an engineering degree, I'd be more optimistic. But in any case I see a lot of loans that I do like.

Vegas is too cheesy for me. We did our pre-honeymoon in Maui, came back and went to city hall the next day (it was planned that way, though). No stress for six months, no wasted money. No regrets. That was 10 years ago.

Forgot to mention that this way of getting married is obviously doomed to failure. With jbcarioca at 35 yrs., Peach & I at 25yrs 10 mos, and HaveMilesWillTravel at 10-years. That's over 70 years... that type of ceremony must not work.

Back to the subject at hand, everyone has their own "method" for picking loans, or criteria, etc. Mine rotates based on my mood, but I have never found a loan for buying furniture, fixing up the house, weddings, or education that has compelled me to offer funds.

BTW... Myrna funded with 2-hours to spare!

Which just goes to show that marriage is not about the ceremony or the lavish reception. It's about the commitment of the couple for the long haul.

Congratulations to all of you, and best wishes for the years ahead.

And since all the funders are spending their own money, I have no problems with them making their own decision. That student in Jordan is 92% funded, so apparently lots of people who see things differently than I. No problems with that.

I am so new (8 loans so far... somehow I have gotten ahead of my goal of one goal per day) that I am still very much developing my strategy.

By the way, is there a way to withdraw ones funding from a loan before it's fully funded? I could swear that educational loan needed $75 earlier and now it needs $100.

Not sure. I think there was mention at some point that one can put it in the basket, and it will reduce the amount needed. Then, if it is removed from the basket or the browser is closed, it goes back.

Big discussion a while back that had something to do with expiring loans not getting funded because of "basketing". Now, expired loans will only basket for a limited amount of time.

No loan can be basketed for more than 30 minutes now. It could be that the loan in question was in someone's basket while they were checking out other loans and it got turfed out after the 30 miniutes.

I've been known in the past to spend an hour filling my basket with 40 or 50 loans on repayment day before finally checking out. I'll have to change the way I operate, but I don't mind at all because it means that it will no longer be possible to hold a loan in baskets indefinitely.

As to expiring loans, once the loan goes below 6 hours left, when you add it to your basket, there's a message that says it's not reserved. That is, the amount needed does not go down by $25, and you only really get the $25 loan when you check out. If you take what seems to be the last $25, I can come in and lend to that loan if I can get to checkout faster than you, and the loan will somehow fall out of your basket when I check out. Thus it should be impossible for a loan to be held in a basket to expiry.

Thanks for the clarification.

I picked a loan earlier today that was about to expire (and did end up expiring) and saw that message. I wasn't very optimistic about that loan making it, but I wanted to see how this worked.

Tis the season